The Guilt of The Pumpkin King
by Phoenix Fire and Sanely Insane
Summary: Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King and the Holiday Leader for Halloween, is practically drowning in guilt over nearly ruining Christmas. To make the nightmares stop, he ends up asking Sandy Claws (AKA Santa Clause) for help in accepting the jolly mans forgiveness. WARNING: Contains spanking/caning, mild foul language, use of a stock/pillory, detailed description of a nightmare


**Phoenix:** Okay, so, I'm lame and on a TNBC kick right now. Mainly because the fic I was working on for it is temporarily lost, and this one is partially based on a dream I had. Really, it was just mentioned during my dream that Jack never faced any real consequences for trying to take over Christmas, and that there's no way he doesn't still feel at least a little guilty about it. So, low and behold, here's this for your enjoyment. But for this to make sense, I need to explain how I see Jack's anatomy. I basically see him as an inside-out mummy; His bones are on the outside, but inside them, his organs and such are encased in mummy-like skin. Which means he also has fully functional reproductive organs haha. Enough of my bullshit, read on! _(Quick note, when talking about the one and only elected official of Halloween Town, "the mayor" is referencing his title, and "The Mayor" is being used as his name since he doesn't have a real one.)_

 **/+Story Start+\**

 _Jack screamed as he fell from the sleigh, plummeting towards the ground at a relatively high speed. When he landed with an "OOF!", it was on something soft, contradicting what he had been expecting. He looked around in confusion. "What is this? Where am I?" he asked. He seemed to be in a grassy field that rested upon the tops of clouds, the grass lush and the sky as black as could be. Once he stood up, a mirror-like window appeared before him with a small flash of light as it almost immediately started to show him a horrific scene of chaos._

 _Houses were on fire, many with children trapped inside who were being attacked by the Christmas toys he had delivered. Bodies of adults and children alike were being removed from homes that had been burning, as well as ones with blood splattered on a few windows from the inside. Parents were crying out for their trapped or deceased children, and orphaned children crying because they would never see their parents again. News stations were saying that the skeleton impersonating Santa Clause was to blame. Jack backed away in horror at what he was seeing._

 _"I-I did this? I...Killed people? Innocent children? No! It can't be!" he yelled. "I couldn't have done this! I-I would NEVER harm an innocent human being!" He grabbed at his skull and started to hyperventilate. "I orphaned children! I'm a murderer and I ruined Christmas! How could I have done this?! I'm sorry, I want to take it all back!" He ran into a wall, effectively preventing him from backing up any further. "I'M SORRY! PLEASE, JUST MAKE THIS STOP! PLEASE!"_

"I'M SORRY!" Jack screamed as he woke up. He shot up into a sitting position and started panting hard. As he tried to control his breathing and stop hyperventilating, Zero floated up to him and whimpered. "I'm sorry, Zero, did I wake you again?" The ghost dog whined and nuzzled him. "I had that nightmare again. The one where the whole Christmas thing ended much, much worse..." Jack smiled weakly when Zero licked at his face. "Thank you. How does a midnight snack sound?" After a bark of approval, Jack got up and went downstairs to the kitchen.

Zero trailed closely behind him, waiting patiently for the small bowl of dog biscuits Jack was fixing to be put on the floor. When he was happily munching away, Jack fixed himself a cup of tea that humans called 'chamomile' with a pinch of Deadly Nightshade in hopes it would put him back to sleep. Though, despite the fact he had done this many nights recently to no avail, he still hoped it would work this time. He shuffled to his study, taking a seat in a plush chair with his tea and a book filled with poetry from Edgar Allen Poe.

As he drank his tea and read, the Pumpkin King grew tired, but knew he wouldn't be able to fall asleep. If he even tried to doze, scenes from his nightmare would appear and jolt him back awake. Before he knew it, morning had arrived and the mayor was knocking at his door. "Jack! I have some new plans for this Halloween, I need you to look over them!" Jack groaned and put his book away before dragging himself to the door and tossing it open. "Mayor, please, I'm not feeling well. Can't this wait for now?"

The mayor's head spun around to his sad face. "B-But I only have the next hour free today! I'm only an elected official here!" The boneman facepalmed. "And I'm the Pumpkin King, who said he doesn't feel well. It can wait until either later today or sometime tomorrow. Unless, of course, you want me to end up sick and completely incapacitated." The mayor went silent for a moment, a bit shocked at the bit of sharpness to Jack's tone. "O-Of course, Jack, sorry. Feel better!" he said before running away as fast as he could.

Jack did the closest thing to rolling his eyes that he could before closing the door and going to make breakfast. He settled on fixing a very small serving of Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal. Once it was finished and he was sat at the table with his bowl and a cup of coffee, he more or less sat there poking at it. He hadn't had much of an appetite since the nightmares started. After some begging from Zero, Jack managed to eat as much of the food as he could stomach and downed the coffee, making him feel a little less dead.

Around lunchtime, Jack managed to get himself washed and dressed, though didn't bother considering the option of having lunch. Right before he settled down on the sofa to continue reading, someone started knocking on his door. With a groan, he dragged himself to it. "Mayor, I told you I'm not feeling well!" he said, clearly annoyed as he opened the door. "We can go over the-Oh!" He blushed slightly when he saw who was outside the door. "Doctor Finkelstein, Sally! My apologies, I thought the mayor had returned to pester me about Halloween plans. Please, come in!"

Sally gave a quiet chuckle, helping her father inside. "Hello, Jack. We're actually here at the request of the mayor, he told me that you're not yourself and asked that I come by to make sure you're not sick." the doctor said, to which Sally nodded. "I don't suppose you could tell him either way that I need to be left alone for a few days to rest?" Jack asked a bit desperately. "We'll see." The Pumpkin King mentally pouted as he took a seat on the sofa to be examined.

After starting the exam, Dr. Finkelstein started asking a few questions. "How have you been sleeping, Jack?" "Horribly. Almost every night I've only gotten a few hours of sleep, if that, and have ended up staying up all night reading." The doctor frowned. "Why would that be?" Jack looked away. "Just...Just a nightmare...And not the good kind of nightmare..." Sally placed her hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "Would you like to talk about it?"

Hesitantly, Jack told them about his nightmare, not leaving out any details. Dr. Finkelstein listened closely as he continued the exam, mentally taking a few notes. "And when I try to get away from the mirror, I end up backing into a wall and screaming that I'm sorry. Then...I wake up, usually screaming and hyperventilating." Jack finished, sounding completely drained. "Well, Jack, I believe I know the problem." Jack looked at him and cocked his head. "You're not sick, you're full of guilt."

"What?" Jack and Sally both asked. Jack looked utterly dumbfounded, while Sally simply seemed a bit confused. "You feel an immense amount of guilt over nearly ruining Christmas. You haven't forgiven yourself for it, and it's eating at you. When left alone to fester, guilt can be a dangerous thing, just like stress." The boneman nodded slightly. "How do I make it stop?" The doctor gave him a bit of a smile. "Only you can answer that. What would it take for you to forgive yourself?"

Jack leaned back and thought for a few moments. "I...I guess facing consequences? Sandy Claws accepting an apology? I'm just not sure..." "Start with the apology and go from there. If that doesn't work, come talk to me and we'll see what we can figure out. For now, try some Deadly Nightshade before bed to help you sleep." Jack rubbed the back of his skull. "I've actually been trying that, it doesn't help. Even if it gets me to sleep, it's only for a few minutes before the nightmare wakes me again."

Sally gave a sad smile. "You can always talk to me if you need to, Jack. I'm happy to sit and listen." "Thank you, Sally." After saying their goodbyes and parting ways, Jack went to his study to start working on an apology letter to take to Santa. He spent a good three or four hours on it, having to do several rewrites to make sure it was perfect. He folded it up and put it in his jacket before rushing to the forest to find the Holiday Doors, jumping straight into the one to Christmas Town.

"OW! Damn it!" Jack hissed. He had landed on a roof this time instead of the snow just outside the entrance to town, as he usually did. He sat up and rubbed his skull for a moment before hopping to the ground. As he was brushing his suit off, the door to the building he had landed on opened. "Jack Skellington? What are you doing here?" Jack jumped in surprise and turned around, his face growing a smile. "Ah, Sandy Claws! Just the Holiday Figure I came to see!" Santa quirked an eyebrow, inviting Jack inside.

He got them settled by the fireplace with mugs of hot cocoa before looking to the Pumpkin King with a somewhat serious expression. "So, you said you had something important you wished to speak to me about?" Jack nodded, not being able to look him in the eyes at the moment. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves. "It's about what happened. You know, with the whole ordeal of me trying to take over your holiday..." Santa's look softened a bit. "Go on, it's alright."

Jack fumbled to pull out the letter he had written, nervously handing it over before sipping his cocoa. "Please read it. It took me awhile to write out..." He waited patiently while Santa unfolded and read over the letter. Both would take a sip of cocoa now and then, but otherwise remained silent. After a few minutes, Santa cleared his throat to get Jack's attention. The boneman looked at him, his anxiousness obvious. "Jack, while I appreciate the gesture, you didn't have to do this."

Jack cocked his head. "I forgave you a while ago. That's what my quick ride over Halloween Town and making it snow there was for. But, I can see that this has been causing you some distress." Jack looked away. "Now now, my boy, it's alright. It's a good thing to know when you've done something wrong, and an especially good thing to want to make it right. It's how many children get back on the Nice List after doing something that had put them on the Naughty List." He nodded.

"Though, for some, it doesn't stop there. Even if they're forgiven, they still feel guilt. As if they can't be forgiven until they've faced consequences for what they've done." Santa took a sip of his cocoa. "If it happens around Christmas, I'll leave those children a small box of coal and a letter that explains why alongside their gifts. It will tell them that they're on the nice list, but I knew they needed to feel like they had paid for what they did, and I'd hope it would help. So far, it's never failed."

Jack was staring into his mug. "They reason they still felt guilt was because they hadn't forgiven _themselves_ yet." Santa got up and lifted Jack's chin to look at him. "You're experiencing that right now." "Yes...That sounds right..." The jolly man smiled. "I can't tell you exactly what to do to ease your guilt. Only you can figure that out. But, once you do, I will help you with it to the best of my abilities." Jack rubbed at his eye socket a bit. "Thank you, Sandy. I appreciate it more than you know."

They conversed for a bit before parting ways, Jack actually looking forward to trying to eat a bit of dinner, possibly with Sally. When he got back to town, he went straight to the doctor's home to invite Sally to dinner before heading home to start cooking. Just as he finished, Sally arrived and they got settled down at the table with their meals, though Jack's was only about half of what Sally had. "So Jack, how are you feeling?" she asked. He gave her a forced smile. "Mostly the same. I gave Sandy an apology letter, and he did tell me he had already forgiven me."

She nodded. "Still feeling guilty, though?" "Yes..." Sally gently touched his arm as a means of comfort. "It's alright, Jack. It's not as if you're a child who's done something to make his parents punish him." He perked up a bit. "I'm sorry?" Sally blushed slightly. "I-I said you're not a child who's earned a punishment from his parents. I'm sorry, that just slipped out." Jack looked to be deep in thought for a few minutes, and Sally could practically see the gears turning in his skull.

"That's it! Sally, darling, you're a genius!" He jumped up and hugged her tightly, getting a small squeak of surprise in return as the ragdoll blushed like mad. "I-I didn't mean-" He held up a bony finger. "I know you didn't. But it feels like that's the answer I've been looking for." Sally just looked shocked. "B-But being punished is horrible! You don't deserve to be locked up in your room for what you did!" Jack hugged her gently. "That's only one of many possible punishments, and it's not what I had in mind. Don't worry, Sally, I'll be giving this serious thought first."

They soon finished the meal, and Jack walked Sally home with a kiss on the hand as his goodbye. He may be full of guilt, but he wasn't going to stop being a gentleman because of it. He dragged himself back home, taking the long way. He needed to clear his head a bit so he could think. Once home, the boneman cleaned up the dishes before going to his study. "Alright, now where did those town law books end up?" he asked himself. Jack soon found a small, black book, taking it to bed with him to study for the night.

* * *

The next day, having slept in until around 11:30am, the Pumpkin King quickly went through his morning routines and sent a meeting request to Santa via messenger bat before heading towards Town Hall. He had figured out exactly what he needed to do, and despite dreading what was to come, he wouldn't back down. Jack swallowed nervously as he knocked on the mayors' office door. He entered once he got the go-ahead to do so, making sure he shut the door behind him.

"Jack! What a surprise! Are you ready to go over the plans for Halloween?" The Mayor asked excitedly. "No, Mayor, that's not why I'm here. It's for something that's currently more important." The mayors' head spun around to his sad face. "What could be more important than planning for Halloween?" Jack took a deep breath in an attempt to steady his nerves. "There's to be a public caning in front of Town Hall, as they always were, tonight." The mayors' jaw nearly hit the floor. "Th-That hasn't been done in over fifty years!" "I'm aware of that, Mayor, but that doesn't change anything."

He looked at Jack like he was some sort of oddity. "But-But why?!" Jack sighed. "Just get it arranged! I'll be explaining everything before the caning, as I have something to do beforehand." The Mayor just nodded meekly. "R-Right away, Jack. What time?" "Three o'clock." "That's only two hours from now!" Jack gave him a stern glare before leaving the room and Town Hall, heading straight for the Holiday Doors. He jumped straight into Christmas Town without hesitation and landed on his feet (for once), running over to Santa's door and knocking rapidly. Mrs. Claus let him inside, looking a bit worried but not questioning him.

"Dear, Jack Skellington is here." she called out. Santa waddled in a moment later. "Ah, Jack, you're early." he said with a warm smile, leading Jack to his study. "Sorry, my meeting with The Mayor didn't last nearly as long as I thought it would." Santa waved it off. "No need to worry, meeting with you was the only thing I had scheduled for today. So, you said that you had figured out how you could rid yourself of your guilt?" he asked as he sat at his desk. "Yes. And, if you're willing, I need your help." Santa nodded. "Go on." Jack swallowed nervously. "I-I don't know how to say this without making things awkward..." "Take your time, I don't mind."

The Pumpkin King sighed. "The Mayor is scheduling a public caning for three o'clock this afternoon at my request. He doesn't know who's going to be on the receiving end, but is likely assuming that I'll be the one administering it as that's how they usually went. Though that assumption would be wrong." Santa nodded in understanding. "You'd like for me to give it to you so you can accept my forgiveness." Jack blushed a bit, unable to look his fellow Holiday Leader in the eyes as he mumbled a 'yes' in reply.

"You have no reason to feel ashamed or embarrassed about asking for help when you need it. I know it felt odd to try to ask. But I told you I would do what I could to help, and I don't go back on my word. Just explain to me how it's meant to be done and I'll do it." Jack looked up at him with a sad-looking smile. "Thank you." He took a small, black book with a metallic gold Jack-O-Lantern and judge gavel on the front out of his jacket and handed it over.

"That's a copy of the handbook detailing the higher punishments used in Halloween Town and the guidelines for carrying them out that ensure fairness, and that whoever is handing it down can't be accused of assault or stepping out of bounds." he explained. "Third chapter is what you're looking for, everything is covered there." Santa nodded, standing and patting Jack's shoulder. "You're a brave man, Jack. I rarely meet someone willing to go to such lengths to forgive themselves. Take solace in that."

After a few more words and two goodbyes were shared, Jack headed back home to prepare himself for what was to come. He wrote a small speech that he tucked into his pocket before going to help finish setting things up for the caning. "Jack, are you sure you can't tell me why we're doing this?" The Mayor asked, sad-face currently in use. "Mayor, there's only fifteen minutes left before everything starts. You can wait that long. Now please give me the key to the storage room."

The Mayor begrudgingly gave him the key. Jack hurried into Town Hall and to the aforementioned room, quickly unlocking it and practically throwing the door open. An action that was unfortunately met with stirring up a huge cloud of dust that made the Pumpkin King cough harshly. "O-Okay, now where's that case..." He rummaged through a few boxes with no luck before scanning the shelves. "Hm. Damn my rush to lock those things away back then!" He then spotted an old trunk in the corner with a large, rusted-to-Hell iron padlock on it.

"Oh. Right." He went over to it and easily broke off the lock with a light kick. He slowly opened it, seeing what he was looking for; An antique-looking, Victorian-era styled wooden case. It was made of Bloodwood, stained to bring out the rich, deep red color that inspired its name, and had black belt-like straps with silver hardware attached around the ends that were fastened tightly to keep the case shut. The handle was made of the same material as the straps, though a bit thicker and wider. Jack ran his bony fingers over the wood and straps, shuddering a bit at the thought of what was contained within it.

"I didn't think I'd ever be seeing this again. I forgot how beautiful the wood looks...I'll have to remember to look for Bloodwood when I replace some of my old furniture..." He slowly stood, clutching the handle tightly as he left the room and locked the door behind him. Once at the door to go back outside, he steadied himself with a deep breath. "You can do this, Jack. If you were able to dish out countless canings over the years, sometimes to close friends, you can certainly take one."

When he walked outside, nearly the whole town was standing in front of the platform, sharing confused chatter among each other. He felt himself blushing a bit, willing it away before he walked up onto the platform and put the case down to lean against the podium. Everyone went silent, looking up at him. Jack cleared his throat before speaking. "Hello, everyone. As you should all know, you are gathered here for a public caning." He winced slightly at the loud gasps from the crowd.

"Some of you didn't arrive here until after the last caning took place over fifty years ago. Things changed after that, and the punishment has not been needed again. Until today, that is." The Mayor was watching him nervously, seemingly afraid that he was the one to be caned. "For those of you who have attended these proceedings in the past, I must warn you that this one is going to be a bit different, as one like this has never taken place throughout the entire history of Halloween Town."

Some of the citizens mumbled nervously. Jack looked towards where the forest containing the Holiday Doors was located, seeing that Santa was about one hundred feet away from the platform. "I will not be the one handing it down, as is the usual procedure. Instead, I have asked someone to take my place." He took another deep breath to steady his nerves as Santa waddled up the small set of stairs and over to Jack. More gasps rang out, and many appeared worried.

"This caning is to help right a great wrong that could have been avoided if the offending party had had enough sense to talk to the right people before acting." Jack clenched his fists and shut his eyesockets, mentally screaming at himself to just spit it out. "For nearly ruining Christmas and coming close to seriously injuring, or possibly killing, innocent humans, I, Jack Skellington, am to be caned by Sandy Claws to the extent he deems necessary, even if it breaks the regulations."

A combination of horrified gasps and shocked cries of protest came from the crowd, though the noise almost paled in comparison to the one that came from The Mayor. "J-Jack, you-you can't be serious!" he stuttered out. "I am, Mayor. I have already taken care of the proper paperwork. It's done and finalized to the letter of the law." The Mayor kept trying to stutter out protests, but Jack silenced him by holding up a finger. "As I said, this will be a bit unusual compared to how these would normally go. But this is a choice I made of my own free will."

The Mayor promptly fainted. "Normally, should a Holiday Leader break a law, the council for their world would come together and decide what should be done, and things would be dealt with privately unless the Leader requested it to be public." Jack explained. Everyone just looked at him, their eyes filled to the brim with shock. He sighed, getting The Mayor up. "Alright, I've stalled as much as I can, Mayor. It's time." he hissed. Once the cone-like man was up and awake, Jack went back to the podium.

"While the mayor prepares the stock, I will now present Sandy Claws with the canes so he may choose which he believes is fitting." He picked up the case and stepped back from the podium, which was quickly removed from the platform by one of the witches. With a shaky breath, Jack walked the few steps to stand in front of Santa, holding out the case and watching as his fellow Holiday Leader slowly opened the case. Once opened, four canes were resting in the soft, black velvet lining.

The first one was a simple rattan cane with a curved head, left alone in terms of staining to retain its natural light color. The second was made of bamboo, one end wrapped in leather as a handle with a wrist strap, and a reddish-brown stain had been applied to make the color match closely with the leather. The third was woven together birch, roughly made the same way as the bamboo but with a light brown stain. The fourth and final cane was the harshest of them all; The bone cane. It was styled like the rattan one, but made of bones that could easily be mistaken for being human.

Jack gulped when he saw it, mentally hoping that Santa wouldn't choose the bone cane. It had rarely ever been used, the last time having been on a citizen who had attempted to sexually assault another. It was only ever used for extreme cases like that, and despite not wanting it used on him, Jack honestly felt that he deserved it. Santa looked him in the eye(socket), giving a barely noticeable, comforting smile as if he knew what Jack was thinking. He carefully took the rattan cane, the second harshest, from the case with a slight nod to the boneman, who looked a bit relieved.

The case was closed and handed to The Mayor, who put it God knows where faster than Jack thought he was capable of. He was led over to the stock, taking yet another deep breath as he looked it over. It had been made to be fully adjustable to fit anyone of any size or height. The only holes in the part that locked were for the neck and wrists. There was a wide, padded bar to support the hips and keep whoever was locked in the thing from trying to kneel and escape getting more strokes on the intended target. There were also restraints near the bottom for ankles to help keep them still.

The Pumpkin King felt his chest tighten a bit as he let the mayor get him secured in the stock. He fought against the feeling of nerve-induced queasiness when The Mayor stepped away and Santa got into position. Before he had a chance to start rethinking this whole thing, Jack heard the cane whizzing through the air before feeling a stripe of pain shoot across his backside. His eyesockets went wide in shock, mouth opening but no sound coming out. It took two more strokes before he was able to register what had happened. The fourth one elicited a sharp gasp of pain.

Jack clenched his fists and shut his eyes tightly, determined to take it like the King he was. He tried to block out the noise from the horrified crowd, it wasn't helping him to keep his composure and he didn't want to hear it. About a minute in, quiet grunts and groans of pain started to slip out. Each and every stroke that landed felt like fire from the depths of Hell. Had he not known different, he would've thought that the cane was made of red-hot metal.

Jack was starting to regret his decision. _Seriously_ starting to regret it. But he knew it was too late and he couldn't back out. Though he was feeling sympathetic to everyone he had done this to in the past. The cane suddenly struck his thighs, causing him to let out an indignant yelp of pain and his body to stiffen. He bit his lip hard, his face hot with embarrassment. The Pumpkin King _never_ yelps like a little human girl, he's too scary. But, alas, it was getting harder to control himself and to not scream in agony.

A few more strokes on his thighs, and his grunts and groans of pain returned, louder than before. His legs started feeling weak and ready to give out, but he tried to fight it off. Right before the three-minute mark, tears formed and threatened to fall. Jack tried to shake his head in a pitiful attempt to make them go away, but to no avail. All he could focus on was the nearly excruciating pain and the sounds the cane made when it moved through the air, and when it struck him. Nothing else seemed to register with him right then.

Three and a half minutes in, his plan to remain stotic was pretty much thrown out the window. He couldn't stop the various noises of pain from escaping him each time another line of fire was set alight. At four minutes, his bony, shaky legs gave out, though his body only lowered about one-half of an inch. He started sniffling quietly, trying desperately not to cry. He couldn't break down in tears in front of the entire town, he was their Leader and Holiday Leaders don't cry.

However, that thought quickly vanished. One well-placed stroke caused Jack to scream in pain, his entire body going limp in the stock as he broke down into loud, violent sobbing. Jack could just barely hear the shocked gasps coming from behind him, but he didn't care anymore. He didn't care how weak and broken he likely looked and sounded, or that his subjects were seeing him in such a vulnerable state. He just wanted it all to end. He didn't think he could take any more.

He didn't notice that Santa had stopped at the five-minute mark and returned the blasted cane to its case, or that the jolly man gave the 'closing speech' that announced the sentence was officially carried out and Jack was now considered a free man. The Mayor quickly set about undoing all the locks that kept Jack trapped in the stock, and Sally rushed up onto the platform to help the boneman stand. Santa ended up having to help as well because Jack was pretty much just dead weight at this point, totally unable to support himself.

He was taken into a spare room in Town Hall that had a cot set up in it (for when the mayor worked late into the night and needed a quick nap) and carefully laid down on his side, where he promptly curled up in a ball and sobbed out barely legible apologies. Santa pulled up a chair next to the cot and gently rubbed Jack's back. "It's alright, Jack, it's over and you've been forgiven." Sally slipped out to get the boneman a glass of water while Santa tried to calm him down.

A few minutes after she returned, Jack was reduced to sniffles and eagerly accepted the water. "Th-Thank you, Sally..." She just nodded as he sipped from the glass. "I-I'm sorry I b-broke down like tha-at. The guilt...It was w-worse than I thought, I-I was blocking most of it out, a-and the walls crumbled..." Santa gave him a sympathetic smile. "It hit you all at once, and you were overwhelmed. I understand, Jack, there's no need to apologize. All the guilt should've been released."

Jack carefully attempted to sit up, yelping in pain and practically leaping off the cot to stand. "OW! SHIT!" The other three beings in the room stared at him with wide eyes. He blushed and covered his mouth when he realized what he had just shouted. "S-Sorry about that...It wasn't intentional." The mayor ran out hurriedly, after which Santa chuckled. "Not the worst I've heard come from someone's mouth. Honestly, I expected quite a few colorful profanities." Jack rubbed at his eyesockets and sniffled lightly.

"I owe a few citizens an apology...I told them to suck it up after being caned because it couldn't possibly hurt that badly..." Sally gently placed her hand on his arm. "It's alright, Jack." She and Santa helped the Pumpkin King get into a somewhat comfortable position on the cot, which ended up being laying on his front and holding up his torso with his arms. The three started up a conversation, relaxing and enjoying themselves until someone burst through the door about fifteen minutes later.

"Jack! I've brought Dr. Finklestein, he'll fix you!" the mayor said frantically, the wheelchair-bound doctor making his way in carefully. "I apologize, Jack. He wouldn't listen to me when I told him that being caned doesn't cause damage to the mind." he said with a sigh. "It's not a problem, Doctor. I was going to come see you anyway." Jack shooed everyone but Doctor Finklestein out of the room, and hesitantly let his backside be examined for possible permanent damage. Once he was cleared and The Mayor was satisfied that Jack was fine, though going to have some welts for a day or so, he was escorted home by Sally and Santa.

After exchanging farewells, sharing a hug, and promising to plan a visit under pleasant circumstances soon, Santa headed back to Christmas Town. Sally, being the loving and caring girlfriend that she was, helped Jack get comfortable and prepared dinner for him despite his insistence that she didn't have to do so. Though he did enjoy her company and thanked her profusely, he made sure to give her a tender kiss before she left. Needless to say, the Pumpkin King went to bed feeling better than he had in awhile, and ended up sleeping on his stomach and sitting on very soft pillows for a few days.

 **/+Story End+\**

 **Phoenix:** Well, that's what I've got. I'm still alive! I was going to post something on New Year's Day, but on New Year's Eve, my laptop pretty much shit itself and wouldn't boot. There's a problem with the hard drive that I'm unable to fix right now, and until I can, everything I had on that laptop is lost. That really depressed me, but I did get a new one not too long after, and I finally felt up to trying to write something again. I was just so heartbroken that all of my almost ready to post works were gone that I couldn't bring myself to write anything for a bit. But, after a Tim Burton marathon, I got the idea for this, and it's finally done. I took my time to write it. Though the last two paragraphs suck (mostly the very last one). Anyway, I apologize for the rambling, and I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
